Office Politics
Introduction
“Politics is the lubricant that oils your organization’s internal gears”
Office politics is a reality in the organizational life of a company. It is the use of power and social networking within the organization. It is used to achieve changes that can benefit the organization and those within it as well. Though office politics can affect the organization, it also can serve the personal interests of individuals, showing no regard for the organization. There are multiple personal advantages including tangible assets and intangible benefits. Office politics can increase efficiency, interpersonal relationships, expedite change, and profit the organization and its members at the same time.
There is often a negative connotation linked with the term office politics. Many think that it only refers to the strategies people use to gain advantage at the expense of others or the greater good. This can often have adverse affects on the working environment as well as the relationships within this environment. Due to this negative connotation, many people seek to steer clear of office politics. There are good office politics though. It can help fairly promote yourself and support your cause. It is more than often called networking and stakeholder management.
Individuals and groups can engage in office politics. On one hand this can be highly destructive when individuals focus on personal gains at the expense of the organization. This causes negative influence on social groupings, cooperation, information sharing, and other organizational functions. So this is why it is vital to pay strict attention to office politics and create the right political landscape.
Why It Is Inevitable
• For many individuals, the ...
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...formal power.
• Relationships should be built on trust and respect.
• Become a part of multiple networks. This allows one to keep a pulse on the organization.
• Build relationships that cross the formal hierarchy in all direction whether it is peers, bosses, and executives.
Neutralize Negative Play
Mapping out the informal networks of the office allows one to identify those who use others for their own purposes and not for the common good. It is only natural to want to distances one self from these types of individuals but in office politics, the oppose it needed. One has to come to understand what their motives and goals are and how to avoid or counteract their negativity.
Summary
Being prepared is the most important thing in office politics. The worst thing one can do is not have all the facts, know the landscape, or understand the players and the rules.
The game of hardball is all about keeping up a good reputation to your peers and to the public. A successful politician can build up alliances. It is definitely impossible for someone to make their way to the top without any help. Instead of getting help, a person could make a mistake by “limit[ing] their horizons to missions they can accomplish alone” (15). These people ultimately lose the game. Matthews describes one way to forge an alliance in the maxim “It’s better to receive than give”. While confidence is a good thing, too much pride can end in disaster. A way to avoid looking too confident is asking for help. During the General Elections of 1978, Jimmy Carter asked for the help of those who had lost on election night. This is wise because they looked for work and wanted to be needed. Votes and alliances can be made simply because of a feeling of inclusion in the process. A politician asking for help is “offering a chance to join in the political action, to be part of his success”...
Politics and its inner working can be described as the activities that determine the governance of a specific area, country, or continent. Imagine living in the United States during the 1800’s when there were two political parties, namely Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Personally, I would choose to join the Democratic-Republican Party. As compared to the Federalist Party, the Democratic-Republicans had their policies centralized. They emphasized on agrarian interests that protected the rights of every single individual living in the United States of America. I would be very focused on promoting these facts to my best friends.
...understand the benefits of working together toward a common goal, setting aside the traditional roles of manager and subordinate and hopefully opening up the workplace as a creative outlet for all who work there.
The political frame relies on the assumption that organizations are alliances of unique people and interest groups. The people are unique due to their different views of the world, their morals, faith and activities and the information they have given these characteristics. The political frame also assumes that all key decisions arise from the need to allocate scarce resources such as time, money and information. These scarce resources and differences amongst people are what make conflict the core of organizational dynamics and make power such a crucial asset. Finally, the political frame assumes that all objectives and conclusions are e...
Bureaucracy has been the main form of organisation for over a century and can be characterised by the following: functional specialisation, employees carrying out one function of activity as their primary role; hierarchy of authority, those in superior positions having authority based solely on the virtue of the position itself; a system of rules, the tasks of the organisation following a formal set of procedures and practices; and impersonality, individuals being treated on the basis of the rules rather than emotions and personality (Knights & Willmott, 2012). The mainstream perspective states that a bureaucratic organisation’s central aim is to maximise efficiency, objectivity and fairness and can be thought of as a ‘machine’ with the people making up the components (Knights & Willmott, 2012). This view attributes three problems to this rule-centred organisation: poor motivation, poor customer service and a resistance to innovation and change (Knights & Willmott, 2012). Employees in bureaucratic organisations tend not to be committed to their
The office is the perfect example of multiple sociology concepts. It takes place in a american paper selling company’s office. The office is meant to be a satire comedy of the average corporate office.
that politics is the art of ruling and being ruled in turn. In The Politics,
Grosser, T. J., Lopez-Kidwell, V., & Labianca, G. (2010). A social network analysis of positive and negative gossip in organizational life. Group & Organization Management, 35(2), 177-212. doi:10.1177/1059601109360391
People work in groups or teams everyday whether in their career, education, political organization, church, or any other social setting. Conflict while working in teams or groups is inevitable. When taking people of different backgrounds, personalities, moral, and ethical beliefs and putting them together in a group, conflict will arise. The key to achieving your team goals is to construct and conquer your goals with keeping the greater good of the team in mind. Conflict as it arises should be combated and abated through swift and thorough resolution techniques. When dealt with properly conflict resolution can give rise to a cohesive and productive team.
Wilson, Patricia A. . "The effects of politics and power on the organizational commitment of federal executives | Journal of Management | Find Articles at BNET." Find Articles at BNET | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 June 2010. .
Quantitative research involves the collection and converting of data into numerical form to enable statistical calculations be made and conclusions drawn. It provides a measure of how people think, feel or behave and uses the statistical analysis to determine the results. However, this measurement results in numbers, or data, being collected, which is then analyzed by using quantitative research methods (Byrne, 2007).
Social-learning theory states that “people can learn through observation and direct experience (Robbins & Judge, 2009).” In many organic organizations, learning by “hands-on” is the essential ingredient to a successful organization. Their openness allows this type of training to flourish among the managerial-employee relationship. While social-learning may be applicable and positive for the concept of leadership, there may be a contrasting view in terms of the concept of office politics. In other words, learning by observation and experience from the daily transactions that go on in the organization will bring the best qualities out of leadership, and vice-versa, but it may bring about the worst of the organization in terms of politics.
By conducting the Hawthorne studies, various assumptions were discovered. A person's work behaviour is not easily determined as a cause and effect relationship; however it is determined by a complex set of attributes. Informal groups that were present in the organisation form a social structure which was preserved through job related symbols of prestige and power. Change in the organisation can be avoided by being more aware of the employees' sentiments and their participation. The findings of the experiments led to the discovery that the workplace is a close knit social system and not just a production system.
As far back as history can be told mankind has struggled between balancing culture, power and politics. Many wars have been fought and many people have placed their lives on the line in order to stand up for what they believe in. The combinations of culture, power and politics have spilled over into the workplace. In today’s business environment individuals have much more to worry about than just completing their assigned tasks. Organizational culture, power and office politics influence day to day operations as well as govern the atmosphere within the organization. The amount of impact that power and politics have in the workplace, directly reflect the organization’s culture formally as well as informally.
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